Misfits
by BlazingWolfFire
Summary: While on a raid Ian and Wanda get captured by seekers. Now they must find their way back home to the caves and meet new friends along the way. But mystery shrowds them and their secret will turn Ian and Wanda's world upside down. I don't own the host!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Ian POV

As I lifted another 36 pack of bottled water into the cart I couldn't wait to get back home to the caves. Being out in the open still freaked me out, but I didn't let Wanda know. She handles everything smoothly, the shopping, the hotels, everything we need on the raids. I really wish she wouldn't go out though. I don't want anything to happen to her.

"I think one more pack should do it," Wanda told me. Her head was bent over the list we put together for this store. We did that with every store we went to. Only take so much here and so much there. It's easier that way. It doesn't raise suspicion.

I took another pack off the shelf and placed it in the cart. Then I went around and pushed the cart to the check outline since it was too heavy for Wanda. Still, she tried to push it herself only to get nowhere. Reluctantly she let me push it.

Even though her body isn't as strong as her other one was she still tries to help and not be what she considers a burden. It's one of the many reasons I love her.

We came up the checkout lane and waited our turn. I looked around as all the souls continued their daily lives. Going shopping like this reminded me of when I did it with my parents. God that was so long ago.

We used to go to a Meijer just like this one and push around their blue carts all around the store. Every time Kyle and I would ask to go look at the video game section or the sports section to see the new stuff.

Just thinking about that made my eyes burn. I wiped them under the sunglasses I wore so Wanda wouldn't notice. Or any other soul for that matter. Souls were always thinking of others and we didn't need someone to notice us.

I hated wearing sunglasses inside, but it was the only way I could come in with Wanda. Jared wore them, Mel wore them and even Jamie wore them, though he didn't come inside the stores much.

It was too risky with his impulse behavior so we keep him on look out in the blue Sedan. He's not too happy with it but he knows we're only doing our best to stay under the radar.

When it was out turn, Wanda handled the clerk with ease, giving her our fake names and some fake chit chat, occasionally I would throw on a smile or something if the clerk looked at me. But I was keeping an eye out for trouble. Once we were done I headed straight for the door. Something tugged on the sleeve of my black shirt.

"Ian, slow down, it's ok. We're almost done." Wanda reassured me. God, I love the sound of her voice. I slowed down, realizing I was acting like a scared little human while I was supposed to be acting like a soul. I couldn't help it; I was dying to get out of there. Wanda slipped her arm through mine as we walked through the parking lot.

There wasn't any sun out, just an endless sea of clouds. You don't see the sun much when you're this far north. We hit Yellowstone last week because Wanda wanted to go and we had fun. Living in caves means you don't get to see nature all that much except for rock, rocks, and, oh, more rocks. I wonder how Jeb and the others are doing.

When we got close to the Sedan, Mel opened up the back and Jared got out and loaded up the 5 packs of water along with other things. Good thing we were heading home because there wasn't much room in the van or in the Sedan left.

Wanda and I drive the van while Jared and company get the Sedan. It's a perfect little arrangement, though sometimes Jamie and Wanda switch and while I don't mind too much, I still prefer Wanda sitting where I can see her. Overprotective much, yes, but I don't want to lose her.

After the goods were loaded, I pushed the cart over to the drop off section just as a cart boy was rounding them up to take them inside.

"Thank you, sir," the soul said to me. Even with no sun, the silver behind his eyes reflected.

"No problem. Keep up the good work." I said in the most cheery voice I could come up with, which was probably a sad excuse seeing how I just wanted to get out of there. He beamed at me in his Meijer uniform. They liked compliments.

I turned away and walked back to the van. Wanda was already inside and Jared was getting in the Sedan. I hopped in the van and started the engine, ditched the glasses and pulled out. Home, that's where I wanted to be, I took Wanda's hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back. I took one last look around and then drove off with Jared and the others behind us.

I didn't notice the cart boy watching us and take out a cell phone as we pulled out of the lot.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is a little longer than my first chapter but I hope you like it. =)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the host or any of its characters. **

**Chapter 2**

Sharp Claws Digging Through Ice (Seekers) POV

As I pulled into the Meijer parking lot, I took in the scene around me. Everything looked normal, peaceful even, and yet not 10 minutes ago wild, disgusting, savage humans were here. Anger consumed me. They were here, right under our noses again, and yet we didn't know it.

The sudden wave of emotion made me wince. As a seeker, I was more accustom to these emotions than other souls but even I don't feel comfortable with these violent feelings.

"You doing ok, Claw?" my partner asked me. I looked over at my best friend and biological twin brother (at least by our human bodies) Steel Fang Slays Beast. He was giving me a worried look through his blue eyes.

He was built like me; tall, lean, like a football player, yet he had sandy blonde hair while mine was a dark brown. Except for our hair we were pretty much the same. Same eyes, same face structure, heck, even our shoe size was the same!

But that's about where it stops. Steel looks at the world more in depth than I do; he just sees things that I don't.

"Yeah," I sighed, "just frustrated I think. Let's go meet our guy." We got out of our silver Mercedes-Benz and weaved through the parking lot to the front of the store where the soul who gave us the call was waiting.

"Greetings, seekers," he said nonchalantly, but I noticed he was trembling and his eyes kept searching the parking lot. I could understand why, he had just come face to face with some humans. That alone could scare a soul right out of their skin, literally.

"Thank you for the call. Can you give us a description of the humans you saw? As well as the vehicles they were using?" I got right down to business, no chit chat. We needed to find these humans and fast. They had been causing trouble up around here for a while but we were still no closer to finding them.

"The one who I interacted with was of the same description as the one down in Nephi. He was tall, muscled, had black hair and was wearing a black T-shirt with jeans," Steel had taken out a pad and started jotting down notes, "I couldn't see his eyes because he had shades on and I thought that was weird since there wasn't any sun out. But when he was driving away I was able to glimpse at his eyes and they were human.

"He was with another man who was not as tall, just as muscular, had blonde hair, and was wearing a white shirt with jeans. There was also a female with dark hair, and a lean body that was wearing a black tank top with jean shorts

"There was a little girl whom he was close to. She had golden blonde hair, she was considerably smaller than the others and she was wearing an oversized sweatshirt, probably the black haired mans and jeans as well. But the weird thing about her was that she acted like we do, like a soul does." That threw me for a loop. A soul? Working with _humans?_ No way, not possible. I noticed Steel had jotted that down. In the event that a soul was working with humans we would need as much proof as possible.

"There may have been another human but they were in the Sedan and I couldn't make out any features on them."

"Do you know what kind of vehicles they drove?" I asked him. He nodded.

"The black haired man and the blonde girl drove off in a black van, and the others were in what I believe was a tan Sedan. Both cars were extremely dirty so I couldn't quite tell the color of the Sedan." I nodded and thanked him for calling us. We turned away but he caught me by the arm.

"Please, please catch them. I don't want anyone else to get hurt." He was scarred now, and he should be. These humans had killed seven souls and stolen countless amounts of supplies. They were a threat and had to be stopped, _now_.

"No problem. We're on it," I assured him. I went to shake his hand but he gave me a hug. I hugged him back, he needed it. He tried to act like it didn't faze him but he was scared out of his mind. I suggested he go home for the day and he did.

Heading back to the car, I flipped out my cell phone and called our boss Thousand Leaves. He's one of the oldest souls on this planet and one of the best strategists we have. I told him the descriptions of the cars and requested back-up. After getting the necessary details I hung up the phone.

"So a soul working with humans, huh? This is going to be interesting," Steel mused when we got in the Benz.

"Interesting? How's that?" I said with a bite as we pulled out of Meijer and hit the freeway. If anything I hated humans, which is a strong emotion, even for me. Steel knew this, and he respects my opinion even though he doesn't agree.

He has a wife and a kid, which to my utter and complete shock, they were keeping as a human. He said he couldn't explain it, but he just couldn't have someone else other than his kid inside his son's body.

Personally, I think it spells disaster. Humans are wild and savage, no other way around it. Look at what they've done to us even though we've only tried to help them. Ungrateful scumbags. Also, they took something away from me a long time ago and I will never forgive them. I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, and winced as hatred washed through me.

"Hey, calm down," he put his hand on my shoulder, "I didn't mean to make you mad; I was just stating that a soul working with humans is interesting. We've never encountered something like this before. Maybe they're working with the humans or buying time to sell them out." He gave me a reassuring smile. I calmed down slightly, but not much.

Steel was right. What if they were working with them only to turn on them? It's a nice undercover job if you ask me. I was thinking on that thought when Steel's cell phone went off.

"Yeah, this is Steel Claw," he paused, "Really? Good. No, wait there until we get there. We're in Payson right now; we'll be in Nephi in about 30 min. Keep an eye on them." He shut the phone and looked at me. "They're on the north end of Nephi heading south. We've got a confirmation on the van but the Sedan is still to be seen." I smiled. Good, now we had them.

They were not getting away this time; I'll make sure of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the reviews. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon. **

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Jared POV

As we pulled out of the car wash, I felt safer for two reasons: one, the car was now clean since souls don't keep things dirty often; and two, because it changes the appearance of the Sedan. Under all the dirt and grime, the Sedan had a bit of a tan look but clean, you could tell it was white.

The last stop had gone smoothly as always, thanks to Wanda, but now I suddenly had a gut feeling something was wrong. Normally, I would trust every instinct I have but what could have gone wrong? There weren't any humans up here for miles. I sighed and tried to push the feeling back.

"What's wrong, Jared?" Mel asked. Her voice was so beautiful but the underlying worried tone made me nervous. I didn't want to spook her if my feeling was wrong.

"What's wrong is having to listen to Taylor Swift, that's his problem, and mine." Jamie said from the back.

"It's nothing, Mel," I assured her and then smiled at her when that didn't seem to be enough. Her eyes narrowed.

"It doesn't look like it's nothing. You have that look on your face again." I couldn't help but laugh; she always knew how to read me even though no one else could. The look in her eyes told me she'd either let me tell her or she would beat it out of me.

Giving up, I told her. Her eyes widened a little.

"Do you think anyone's following us?" she asked. I shook my head.

"I don't think so, everything went smoothly. Plus, with both cars washed, the van and the Sedan don't look like they did up in Payson. So I can't think of how anything would have gone wrong." I paused, thinking again. "Maybe I'm just jumpy because this is the home stretch and I don't want anything to happen." Her hand started rubbing my shoulder in comfort.

"It'll be okay. Everything's gonna be fine." She kissed me on the cheek, sending shock waves all the way down to my toes. God, I loved her. As she started kissing down my neck I laughed.

"I won't be able to drive if you keep this up, Mel."

"Yeah, and when you do, do it in the other room!" Jamie piped in. We laughed at that. Man, the kid was something else.

Suddenly my cell went off. Before I could grab it, Jamie ripped it off the holder it was in on my belt.

"Hello? Hey, Wanda!" Jamie instantly smiled. "Huh? Yeah, I'll ask Jared. Jared?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanda says they need to stop for gas. She says there's a gas station up ahead." He put the phone back to his ear again, listening. "She says it's pretty out there since we're far enough from Nephi now." Good, the farther out, the less souls to notice.

"Sure, we'll follow." Jamie relayed that to Wanda and shut the phone. He handed it back to me and then started playing with his thumbs, looking really bored.

"Yo Jamie, you should be looking outside. We don't go out much and you don't go out that much in the first place." We were currently in the middle of Utah, having done Yellowstone last week and the Great Salt Lake a few days ago. He should be able to see this world, all of it, and it made me sad that he couldn't.

With the souls all over the place we were limited on travel and had to be really careful. But that didn't mean he couldn't see what was available.

"Nah, Jared. The cave is my world and the places outside this car are not. It's theirs and may not be ours again. I don't want to tempt myself with something I won't be able to experience freely.' He wouldn't look at me or Mel when he said and Mel started to shake her head as if she didn't want to cry.

This isn't right; he should look at the world he was born in. I started to say something when he cut me off.

"No, forget it, Jared. Anyways, I'm going to bed." He flopped down on the seat and threw the blanket over his head. Sighing, I let it go. Mel let it go too, but I saw her eyes water a little. She rubbed them quickly.

Soon after, I saw Ian turn off the freeway and I followed. After a ways, he turned into a gas station. It was right next to the woods.

The gas station itself looked cabinish, it had a nice flare to it. I parked next to blue Ford truck so we wouldn't look suspicious.

There weren't many cars here, only the Ford, us and a small moving truck that just pulled in. The driver got out and went inside the building.

I watched as Ian got out and went to the pump. Wanda came around and stood next to him. She really looked small in comparison to him. She pointed at the pump and Ian showed her how to use it, no doubt she wanted to be helpful.

"She doesn't give up, does she?" Mel whispered in my ear.

"No, she doesn't," I whispered back not taking my eyes off them.

A Mercedes Benz came up and went to the pump next to Ian and Wanda's. Suddenly, the wrong feeling came back in full force. I checked to see if Ian had his glasses on. He did. I tried to relax but I couldn't.

"Jared, why are you all tense?" Mel asked.

"It's nothing, it's nothing…" I was so confused. Why was my instinct on overdrive?

"Something wrong with Jared?" Jamie asked groggily.

"No, no, it's fine…" then I got it. I whipped my head back to the Benz. They were the ones making me nervous.

A brown haired guy in a tan carhart jacket got out of the drivers' side and a blonde haired guy with a black jacket got out on the other.

Holy crap, they looked freaking identical!

The brown haired one went over to his pump. His kept eyeing the small moving truck and the building.

Pieces clicked into place, oh… shit.

"Mel, Jamie! Get down!" I yelled at them and they went down instantly. The next moment the back of the moving truck burst open as two more guys came out. Damn it, they were seekers!

* * *

**Please review if you read this. Even if you don't like my story, please let me know what you think. I can't make it better if I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what I need to improve on.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I must appologize for taking so long. I went to Florida for spring break and didn't have my laptop. I'm sorry for taking so long and am hoping to post chapters 5 and 6 today to make up for it.**

**Thanks for all the reviews! This chapter was so hard to write from a writing aspect and from a reader aspect. But it had to be written. ='(**

**

* * *

**

Chapter 4

**Ian POV**

Everything was going so great. Where in hell did we go wrong? One moment I was showing Wanda how to use the gas pump, the next moment two men jump out of the back of a small moving truck and start racing towards us with two identical looking guys right behind them.

Panic exploded in my chest, they were seekers, shit!

"Run!" I yelled at Wanda. She turned and ran across the lot for the woods with me hot on her heals. Man she was fast. She doesn't have a lot of muscle but she's smaller than me and could run a lot faster.

We were almost to the edge of the woods when something slammed into me from behind, and caused my sun glasses to fly off my head. It was one of the identical guys, the blond. Wanda turned and started to run back to me.

"No! Keep running! GO!" I shouted at her desperately. She turned and started running for the woods again. The two guys from the truck raced passed us and chased after her.

I pushed the blond to the side and tried to get up but he caught me in the jaw with a left hook. Dazed for a sec, he got on top of me and placed his arm across my throat cutting off my air. I saw the brown haired guy come up with a bottle of sleep and a cloth.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins and I punched the blonde in the side and got up before he could drag me back down. Before I could get any farther I heard a scream.

Whipping my head around I saw one of the two guys from the truck had a struggling Wanda in his grasp while the other one was getting a cloth to her mouth.

"_No!_" I started running to her but while my attention was diverted the blonde got up and came up behind me and put me in a blistering choke hold. I couldn't get any air into my lungs and because he was behind me I couldn't hit him.

Wanda was limp now and I struggled to get to her kicking and thrashing but the blond had me pinned. The brown haired one blocked my sight from her. He pressed the sleep covered cloth to my face, covering my mouth and nose. I twisted my head around trying to shake it off but the brown haired guy kept right with me. The blonde's arm loosened around my throat but not much. Whatever air I could drag in wasn't even really enough to breathe but enough for the sleep to work its alien magic.

I felt my body start to go limp and my struggling started to slow. My vision went checker board and I no longer could fight back. I could feel my mind shutting down.

_Please, please let Wanda go unharmed…_ was my last coherent thought before a wave of blackness took me under.

**Sharp Claws Digging Through Ice POV**

All in all, it was a job well done. We couldn't find a tan Sedan, which aggravated me, but we had two of them so I could deal with it. They would lead us back to the others once we had seekers put into them, and once we found them the process would start all over again, but not without some questioning first.

Through my annoyance and anger, hope fluttered through my chest briefly. _What if they know something? What if my wait is finally over and I can find her?_

The other seekers had already tied, gagged and blindfolded the soul and put her in the back of the truck. Aggravation shot through my chest again. I couldn't believe that a soul would be hanging around these humans _voluntarily_! Especially these humans! They been causing trouble up here for far too long and most of the time it meant someone was getting hurt.

I didn't think I could ever hate another soul before but this was an extreme exception.

I focused my attention back on the big guy to distract my emotions. Steel had already bound his feet and he handed me another rope to bind his hands. Taking it, I looped it around both wrists and tied them together. I made an extra effort to tighten them. With each pull, I could feel the rope bite into his skin and it made me feel better.

It scared me that I was getting used to anger and that I actually _liked_ making this human, a fellow organism, hurt. But my fear was buried beneath all my hatred. I was so caught up in rage I didn't even notice Steel come up to me.

"Hey! Claw, stop! It's already tight!" Steel shouted at me. He slapped my hands away from the rope so I wouldn't make it tighter. Then he grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Lighten up. I know you don't like humans but don't be like one! Control man, you need to control yourself!"

He brought his hand back and slapped me.

The stinging pain took away some of the rage. I closed my eyes and breathed, forcing myself to calm down. How could I let myself get out of control like that? My fear from earlier burst through the anger, allowing me to get in control again.

Once I was calm I looked into Steel's eyes, showing him the pain and hatred I was feeling. He held my gaze for a moment and then did something I never thought he'd do.

He hugged me.

"We have them, k? And soon we'll have the others. They won't be bothering anyone else again. And maybe this time, they'll have some answers for you." He knew how much that last part meant to me. It was one of the reasons I fought to find humans so much.

We stayed like that for a moment and then got back to business. We finished gagging and blindfolding the big human, and moved him to the back of the moving truck.

Holy cow he was heavy. It took me, Steel and one of the other seekers to lift him in to the truck. We placed them across from each other, looping a piece of chain through their arms so each wrist was on either side of the chain.

The chain was then connected to the wall of the truck above their heads. Once they were secured, we closed the doors and bolted them shut. There was no way they were getting out of there.

I looked around the station for one last check and noticed a white Sedan behind a blue Ford. The cart boy described the Sedan as tan but he did mention about all the dirt and the van was clean. I motioned to the other two seekers.

"Hey guys," I said. "Steel and I are gonna take these two up to Salt Lake City. You check out the rest of the vehicles in the parking lot, ok? Once you're done, take the Benz and the van to meet us there. Take some sleep with you when you check the white Sedan, and there's extra rope in the back just in case." They took the hint.

"Roger that," one said. I tossed them the keys to the Benz and turned around and got in the truck.

**Unknown POV**

As the scene played out, a lone figure laid silently in the bushes, watching. It was waiting, biding its time, looking for the perfect opportunity to strike. It felt sad for the human and soul who just got nabbed and hatred towards the seekers who did the nabbing.

Two of the seekers looked familiar though, but the figure could not place them. The seekers were identical looking and the brown haired one had an extremely familiar feel to him. But that didn't matter, what mattered was the human and the soul.

They would be the key to its future and the future of others.

The two identical seekers climbed in the truck and started it with a roar. As the truck was backing out, the figure noticed the other two seekers walk over to a white sedan. Inside were three terrified humans.

The seekers didn't know that yet and so the figure gave the humans something to help them escape. Energy hummed through the figure's body and traveled across the lot to the humans. The energy settled inside of them, doing what the figure wanted it to do. The energy wouldn't last long but it would last long enough for them to get away.

The moving truck pulled out of the gas station and the figure followed silently on four feet, unnoticed.

* * *

** I do have one question for all my readers. How do you like the new characters, and do you think i'm catching the essence of the original characters from the Host? ok, two questions but i would apperciate feedback by mail or review. Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Short chapter but the next will be longer. :)**

**

* * *

**

Melanie POV

When Jared told you to get down, you got down. Especially when you're out in the real world and they're seekers and souls all around you.

I ducked down under the dash board as best I can so I wouldn't be seen if someone was looking at the Sedan from a distance. They would only see Jared, who had his sun glasses on, but they wouldn't see Jamie or me. After a moment I heard Jared curse.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. I lifted my head up a little so I could see what he was looking at.

"Get down and stay down," he ordered me, but it was too late, I had already seen what I needed to see. I spun to get out of the Sedan but Jared whipped around and grabbed me so that he pinned both of my arms.

"Jared! We need to help them!" I cried trying to get out of the car. Seekers were after Wanda and Ian. I couldn't just sit here and let them be taken away. Wanda was my sister, I couldn't leave when I was almost out of Jared's hold another pair of arms trapped me to where I was.

Jamie.

I turned and looked at him and saw that he was shaking. He was crying.

"Mel, please don't." Jamie mumbled through his tears. He loved Wanda as much as I did and it hurt him to leave her like it did me. "We'll get them back somehow, but just wait ok? I don't want you gone too." He was really shacking now.

I stopped trying to get away and thought about the situation we were in. If I tried to help Ian and Wanda, the seekers would catch me too. Then they'd search the lot and find Jared and Jamie.

No, I couldn't let that happen. I trusted Wanda; she would try and get Ian out. We needed to bide our time and wait for them.

Jared and Jamie sensed my decision and let me go, but Jared looked like he was ready to grab me again if I made a run for it.

"No, I'm good." I told him. He relaxed a bit and then we all watched in silent horror as the seekers went after Ian and Wanda. The two after Ian looked identical. The one who had him in a choke hold was blond and the other was brown haired.

The other two after Wanda already had her and were tying her up. I tensed again because I really wanted to go out and take her away from them. Wanda liked souls, that was who she was but she didn't want to go back.

Jared noticed this and gave me a hard look. I knew him well enough that through that rock hard expression, he was as willing as I was to go out and help them but he had to think of me and Jamie and how we were going to get out of this.

After what seemed like forever, the seekers had finished tying up Ian and Wanda and put them into the back of the small moving truck. The two identical ones talked with the other two before they got into the truck and drove off; the other two seekers started to walk towards the Sedan. No, they were coming for us now!

Jared was waiting for this; he started the Sedan and shifted it into reverse as the other two seekers came closer. Taking off his sun glasses he turned his head around to see where he was going when I caught sight of his eyes.

"JAMIE!" I launched myself away from him, trying to open up the door. "Jamie get back, get away from him now!"

"Mel? What's wrong?" Jaime looked at me panicked and his eyes widened when he looked at me. Fear shot through me as I saw the same thing in Jamie's eyes as I had seen in Jared's.

There was a silver reflection in each of them.

"_Mel?!_" Jared asked me frantically. I looked back at him; there was still the reflection in his eyes. His eyes were full of fear when he looked into mine.

Seeing the fear in Jamie and Jared's eyes as they looked at me, I pulled down my mirror and looked at myself.

My eyes were reflecting too. Just like a souls would.


	6. Chapter 6

**FINALLY I GOT CHAPTER 6 UP!!!! **

**I'm sorry but this chapter took me forever to write and I feel bad for making you wait. I plan on making chapter 7 up today but if I don't I must apologize again. I'm writing as fast as I can and I want to make it interesting for you guys! I love all the reviews.**

**Thank you for the reviews from: sapphirenight12, 1puppyluv, webgill1, PachO'shea, and stephgirl123.**

**Stephgirl123- you're right. They don't have souls in them. But all will be explained in due time. Though I must note that for this story, you might have to go back and reread some parts because this story all strings together. If you know what I mean.**

* * *

**Jared POV **

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was just no way it was possible. Jamie and Mel's eyes were suddenly reflecting… like a soul's would.

That was just impossible. Their eyes were perfectly fine just a few seconds ago and I'm positive that they weren't injected with a soul in that amount of time. Jamie and Mel were looking at me with identical, what the heck?!, expressions and I could bet mine had one as well.

A sharp knock on my window caused us all to jump. I was so caught up with the changes in Jamie and Mel's eyes; I totally forgot the seekers, who were now standing outside my window.

"Mel, Jamie? Is that you?" I asked them quickly. They both nodded.

Still mystified, I got myself together and put the window down as I quickly looked at myself in the rearview mirror.

Shit, my eyes were the same! But how is that possible?!

Through my shock, confusion and panic, I looked up at the seekers and got an idea.

"Hello, seekers." Crap, my voice was shot with panic and shock, though that might work to my advantage. I cleared my throat and ducked my head so they could see my eyes. See? I'm a soul just like you, therefore I'm harmless (somebody gag me.)

They looked at me for a moment, like they were trying to figure something out. I took that opportunity to say something.

"Were those _actual_ humans? Like wild ones?" the unease in my voice helped make my act more believable, I just hope Jamie and Mel were catching on.

The seekers' look softened a bit.

"Yeah, but we took care of them; you won't have to worry about them anymore. Are you guys from around here?" the seeker asked.

"No, we're just passing through." I answered. "We were heading to California, but we were making a quick detour to Salt Lake City to go to the Great Salt Lake. My partner and I love nature, and we decided to bring my partner's little brother along." It was a believable enough story and it would lead them in the opposite direction we were actually heading.

"Well, be careful. We've had a lot of wild human sightings around this area." He said in a guarded tone, like there was more to the story. Still, what he said peeked my interest. _More humans? In an area like this?_ "I would really suggest you just head to California from here and come back to the lake later." This only confirmed to me that he wasn't saying all that there was to know.

I wanted to know more but what we needed to do now was get away from here.

"Well, hun? You think we can wait a few weeks?" I asked Mel. I pleaded her with my eyes to try and act as normal as possible.

"Sure, we can wait. I wouldn't want to go anywhere that was unsafe." She responded perfectly. I could tell she was still a little shocked about our eyes but she knew we needed to get away now and ask questions later. I turned back to the seekers.

"Thank you for informing us seekers," I said. He nodded. His partner had gone back to the Benz that the identical seekers had come in, while we were talking, and now he was heading to Ian's van. He got inside, looked around and then started it and drove up behind the Benz.

"Well, we'll be on our way then. Thank you." I said. The seeker nodded again and then turned around and headed back to the Benz. Once he was gone, I let my foot off the break and slowly reversed out of the parking spot and drove out of the gas station.

I looked behind me and saw that the seekers took the Benz and our van and drove off in the opposite direction. They were heading to Salt Lake City.

Great. Even if we could help Ian and Wanda, there'd be too many souls around. We would never get them out unnoticed.

I gripped the steering while so hard I thought it would break. Anger and agony washed through me. Ian was a good man and one of my best friends, and without Wanda I would have never gotten Melanie back. I wished there was some way to help them.

When we got on the highway, Mel and Jamie took it as their ticket to go off.

"What the heck happened-"

"Why are our eyes –"

"What are we gonna do –"

"What about Ian and Wanda?"

"HOLD ON!" I shouted. They were speaking so rapidly, I could barely make sense of what they were saying. My outburst shut them up.

"I have no idea what happened back there, but we need to think about this. We're still ourselves right?" I asked.

"Yeah, but how…" Mel's confusion colored her tone.

"I don't know." I said. We were silent for a moment. I took this opportunity to concentrate on driving.

I looked in my rearview mirror to see the traffic behind me. There was a black car behind us and a few more trucks behind them. I didn't notice it right away because it was so completely normal but when I did, I was completely shocked.

"Mel?"

"Yeah."

"Look in your mirror and tell me what you see about your eyes." She flipped down the visor and looked into the mirror.

"The reflection, it's fading."She gasped. She was as shocked as I was. Jamie crawled up behind her and looked into the mirror as well.

"Whoa, this is so cool. It's like our eyes changed when we were near souls and now they're going back to normal. It's like a super power or something." Jamie's excited tone confused me.

"Super power?" I asked sarcastically, "More like a nightmare. We would never know if someone was really a soul or not and things would just turn plain out ugly." Jamie's face fell a little, realizing what I said was true.

"Yeah but, we could use this to get Ian and Wanda back." Jamie argued. I shook my head.

"No."

"Why not? We can use this. We can't just leave them there!" Fear and desperation filled Jamie's face. "We need to go back for them."

"I agree with Jamie. We need Wanda and Ian and if-" Mel agreed with him before I cut her off.

"No! We don't know how this works and we can't do anything for them. What we need to do now is get back to the caves and warn everyone. We need to prepare for the worst case scenario."

I hated that I was right, but what could we do? We couldn't just waltz into the hospital and get Ian and Wanda out. Plus, Wanda was a soul, what would happen to her. There were too many risks and if we got caught, there would be no one to warn everyone back home.

"Jared," Jamie pleaded. "We need to do something." He wiped his eyes repeatedly. God, I hated making him cry, but what could we do?

"Jared, there must be something we could do. I mean, I trust Wanda to get them out but we can't just leave them…" I hated the way Mel sounded so hopeless.

God, I hated this whole thing. I hated that I couldn't do anything, I hated that I was as helpless as Mel felt, I hated it so much I could feel the tears spring into my eyes.

"Damn it! What the hell can we do?!" My voice shook with desperation and sadness. I slammed the steering wheel with my fist, wishing it was a seeker I was hitting instead.

We all sat in silence for a while. Trying to think of some way to help them. Even though my face was pretty shut off, all the emotions raging inside me wouldn't settle down. I thought I was going to be engulfed by them-

"We need to go home." The words slipped out of my mouth. I wasn't even going to say those words. "We need to trust Wanda and Ian to get out alive."

Holy Shit! It was like my mouth had a mind of its own. And that wasn't the only thing, my raging emotions suddenly clicked off. Like someone flipped a switch on them.

"Yeah, we can trust them." Mel agreed.

"Yep, Wanda will get them out." Jamie chimed in.

What the hell was going on? It was like something was making-

I suddenly forgot what I was thinking of. Huh… Weird.

Well, anyways. I can trust Ian and Wanda to do….. whatever they were going to do. I couldn't remember. So I pressed on the accelerator and headed for home. I didn't worry about Ian or Wanda, they were going to be fine.

As I tried to remember what I had forgotten I didn't notice the black car get off the freeway and head back the way we came.

**Sharp Claws Digging Through Ice POV**

We were about half way to Salt Lake City when the other seekers called in to report that there were no other humans in the area. This confused me a bit because I was sure that the Sedan would have been the same one as the cart boy described but they said that they beings inside were souls.

Their eyes reflection confirmed it.

Still, we had two of them and that was all we would need.

"Well, I guess those really weren't humans after all." Steel commented as he stretched as far as the truck would let him. "Man, that felt good to be back in action again. Even if these bodies are just humans." I smiled, that was Steel for ya.

"Yeah but we aren't fighting any claw beasts this time." I joked. He smiled.

"Yeah, but it still felt nice. Reminds me of when we used to go out and defend our people against the claw beasts." He was lost in thought remembering.

It took me back into my memories too. Steel and I met up on the mist plant in our last life. I was a seeker back then. Steel wasn't, he was more of a protector against claw beasts ever since his accident. Anyone that wanted to travel from city to city, he would go out of his way to tag along to make sure no one was hurt.

That's how we met up. I was going from the second city to the fifth when we met. And if it wasn't for him, I'd probably be dead by now. We were half way to the fifth city when we were ambushed by a claw beast. Us souls aren't fighters by nature but our hosts had strong survival instincts.

Out of all of my friends, I've always had the sharpest claws when it came to ice sculpting. And Steel had had some really sharp fangs back then. We both got tossed around pretty good but we were still able to scare the claw beast off when we worked together. We moved in perfect sync. It was amazing.

Ever since we've been best buds and when his partner wanted to come here, he asked if I wanted to come with him.

And that's how we ended up here. It took us awhile to find each other but afterwards we haven't been separated. And with all the emotions that come with these bodies, especially the love between brothers here, we've always been together.

We were on a back road now. Trees lined both sides of the road and on one side there was a hill that went down for about 30 feet. We were still about half way to Salt Lake City, so about another half hour till we got there.

We were coming around a curve when a white dog shot out in front of the truck. I swerved, trying to miss it, but the truck to slide off the road and down the side with the 30 foot hill.

The truck hit the first tree on Steel's side and shattered the window. Then it swung around and hit another tree on my side, which also shattered the glass. Pains spike up all along my arm as the glass was embedded I my skin.

Now I understood what a pinball felt like. The truck kept bouncing off tree after tree until it ran straight into a fallen tree. The truck flipped over the fallen tree and kept rolling down the hill.

The last thing I saw was the huge oak tree right before the truck slammed into it.

* * *

**Please review. I really want to know what you guys think. I have anonymous review enabled for all those without a fanfiction account. Please review my story!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! Sorry i didn't post this yesterday but by the time i got done writing it last night i was so tired i feel alseep at my laptop. Sorry.**

**Anyways, i'll try to get chapter 8 up some time this week. Thank you all for reviews! **

**Reviewers: ****sapphirenight12, 1puppyluv, webgill1, PachO'shea, and stephgirl123.**

**Keep reviewing please!**

**Discliamer: I don't own the Host.**

* * *

Wanda POV

I was sleeping in a weird position. I was sitting down and my hands were above my head. I tried to pull my hands down but they wouldn't come down and all I did was make a rattling noise that sounded like… chains.

My memory flew back to me.

_Oh my god! We're taking by seekers!!_

My eyes flew open but I couldn't see anything because there was a cloth tied around my head. There was also some kind of cloth in my mouth that was tied around the back of my head too.

Panic slammed into me. I pulled on my hands again but they wouldn't come down. It felt like they were bound with a piece of chain looped through my arms. My feet were bound too.

_Ian! Where was Ian?!_

I tried to call his name through the cloth but it just sounded muffed so I tried to stretch out my legs to see if he was anywhere near me. My foot came in contact with something a few feet in front of me.

Whatever I hit moved away from me.

_Ian… he was here too._

I know I shouldn't have felt relieved, since we've been captured by seekers but knowing that he was here close to me and didn't have some soul in him made feel better.

I tried to make sense of where we were. It felt like we were in a vehicle and we were moving. We were probably in the moving truck those two seekers jumped out of. The ones that went after me, but what about the ones that went after Ian?

And what about Jared, Mel, and Jamie? I hoped they were ok and that they got away. I hope they can get back to Jeb and the others so that they can escape.

A sudden noise in front of me interrupted my thoughts. It sounded like a shuffling, and some clanks of metal. Ian must be pulling on the chains.

I felt something touch my foot and I jumped, but then I searched with my feet until I felt his foot again. He tried to talk but it was just a muffling sound. There was more chain clanks and his breathing sped up.

_He must be trying to pull the chains off._

I tapped his foot twice with my own, trying to tell him to stop. I didn't want him hurt. It was my fault in the first place. Tears sprang into my eyes and my breath caught.

The clanking stopped and I could feel his foot rubbing back and forth against my leg. He was trying to comfort me.

I heard shuffling again, like something was rubbing against a flat surface.

"Wanda, are you ok?" Ian asked me. He must have tried to rub the cloth off or something. I tried answering but the cloth made my voice unintelligible.

"Shh, it's ok. Hang on a sec." More rubbing noises. "There, now I can see you. Just nod your head for yes and shake it for no." I nodded.

We sat in silence for a moment. I tried to think of where they might be taking us but we could have gone dozens of miles while we were out. I had no clue where we are.

Helplessness grabbed at my heart. I didn't want Ian to end up with a soul. Tears came back to my eyes.

"Hey now, don't cry. Everything will be fine." Ian tried to assure me. Ian was a very good liar because we both knew that it wasn't going to be fine. He started rubbing my leg again with his foot.

Suddenly, there was a screeching noise and I was flung around like a rag doll. The chains prevented me from going anywhere and they yanked at my arms as my body was flung this way and that.

There was a terrible grating noise like metal was being ripped apart. I felt my side of the truck bang against something which caused the space behind me to dent inward. It slammed into my back so hard that it knocked the breath out of me. There was a pain in my wrists where the rope tightened every time I was pulled away from the wall.

Suddenly, it felt like we were in an anti gravity field and then just as quickly we were slammed down onto the ground. I hit my head on the way down but I pretty much landed on my stomach.

I heard a sick popping noise and Ian started screaming.

_Ian!!_

The truck did another roll and I landed on my ankle wrong. Pain shot up through my leg as the truck finally stopped, slamming into something hard. I lay there dazed and hurting. Somewhere in our toppsy turbby tumble of a trip the blindfold flew off my head.

I lifted my head to see what had happened. Ian was sprawled out across from me on the other side of the truck. He was breathing hard and it sounded like he was whimpering. There was blood on his right arm and his left arm was bent at an odd angle.

_No, the chains made his arms stay put and that cause his arm to bend that way! What if it's broken?_

I looked around again and noticed that the side of the truck, the side I was on, had a big gash in it. When we hit the trees they must have cut through the side of the truck.

I heard a shuffling noise and I turned my head back in Ian's direction, Ian was trying to get up but when he went to move his left arm he gasped and collapsed back down.

I rubbed the back of my head against the nearest wall, it took a few tries but the cloth finally came out of my mouth.

"Ian, don't try to move. You'll get hurt worse." I pleaded with him. I didn't want to him any more hurt than he already was. He ignored me and tried to get up again, only to collapse back down.

The light coming through the gash in the truck flickered, and turned to look to see what caused it. I braced myself to see the seekers come to get us out, but what I saw shocked me.

Standing in the gash of the truck was a magnificent white wolf.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm sorry this is late. I went to Chicago Friday for school and didn't get home till late and slept all Saturday. Anways, I thank for all the reviews. I'm liking how people are putting things together ;) and to answer sapphirenight12 question: there is a jared in twilight that is a silver wolf but this is Jared from the host.**

**Anywas i hope you like this chapter. It is offically the longest chapter i've written! lol**

**Wanda POV**

I couldn't move. I could scarcely breathe. Standing in the gash of the side of the truck was a magnificent white wolf. But it wasn't the creature's beauty which stole my breath away but the fact that this mighty hunter could kill Ian or me in an instant.

We were both bound and tied to where we were and didn't have a chance of fighting off the wolf if it decided to attack. I tried to move in front of Ian so that I would be attacked first instead of him, but the chain looped through my arms would only let me go so far.

Ian must have noticed my change in focus because he tried to get up again and got as far as his knees before they buckled in on him and he fell back down with a thud and a groan.

_Ian, stop! We don't want the wolf to notice how defenseless we are._

I wanted to say that to him so bad but it would only draw the wolf's attention more. Though strangely, as I looked at the wolf's expression, I noticed that it did not look like it was threatened or about to strike, but more that it was trying to figure something out.

Suddenly, the wolf lowered its head and drew its ears back. I closed my eyes, frightened.

_This is it. Please let it get me instead of Ian, at least Ian will then have a chance to get out of here._

I heard its paws cross the metal truck's floor and braced myself. Ian stiffened as he heard the noises as well. But the attack never came.

A few seconds later, all was quite. I wanted to open my eyes to see if maybe the wolf had gone away but it was then I felt air move back and forth along my face. I flinched backwards into Ian.

The air followed me even after I flinched and I thought maybe the animal was savoring my fear before it attacked. The thing that happened next shocked me.

The wolf licked my cheek.

Startled, my eyes flew open and I saw that the wolf was only inches away from me and was making no harmful motions towards us. It then sat down and proceeded to lie down on the flooring of the truck. It looked up at me with its golden eyes and whimpered like it was trying to be as non menacing as possible. I stared at the wolf for a few moments.

"You're not going to hurt us are you?" I asked it. Though it was stupid to try and communicate with the animal; the wolf lifted its head and started panting and wagging its tail. I could swear that the wolf was smiling at me!

I tried to reach out and touch the wolf but the chain kept my arms in place yet again. The wolf cocked its head and looked at the chain.

Slowly, it got up and started to sniff at the rope on my hands. I suddenly got an idea.

I moved closer to my side of the truck so that there was more slack on the chain.

"Can you try to chew through the rope?" Again, stupid to ask but I had to try. If this wolf could get us free, I could get Ian out of here and back to safety. The wolf looked at me and cocked its head again.

I drew my mouth up to the rope and started to naw at it with my teeth. Then I put the rope closer to the wolf. I knew this was risky but Ian was the only thing on my mind at that moment. I turned back to him.

The cut on his right arm didn't look to bad but we would need to look at it once we were out of here. I also noticed the big gash on his left leg. It went from the back of his knee to the ankle.

_No! That looks really bad._

He was still breathing fast and his left arm was still oddly bent.

_Broken… or maybe just popped out of socket._

Feeling my gaze, he turned his head and looked at me, his face twisted in pain. When he saw what I was attempting his eyes got wide.

"What… are… you…doing?" He asked breathlessly. I went to answer him but I felt a tugging on my wrists and a pinching pain.

I turned my head and saw that the wolf was taking the rope between its teeth and trying to bite through it, though at some angles it would also have to bite my skin to get the rope off. I didn't mind a little pain, it meant it would get us out of here.

"Yes, yes. A little more," I encouraged it. I looked back and Ian, whose eyes were now not wide with fear but with amazement.

It took only moments but felt like centuries for the last of the ropes to be bitten through. I pointed at Ian after rubbing my sore and slightly bleeding wrists.

"His arms next but be careful, his left arm maybe broken." I told the wolf, who seemed to understand my arm movements enough to know what I was saying. Then I went to work on my bound feet.

The wolf walked over behind Ian and looked down at his left arm as I got the last pieces of rope undone off my feet. It stayed there a moment, its face looking as if it were trying to solve a puzzle. Then out of nowhere, it sprang at Ian's left arm and head butted it forward.

Ian's scream pierced the silence.

"No! What are you doing?!" I shouted at the wolf, which then backed off a bit and sat down. Ignoring the wolf I concentrated on Ian.

"Ian? Ian, are you ok?" I asked panicked. He was still grunting a little but his breathing suggested that he was now in relief. I looked at his left arm and stared star struck. It was back to its normal bend.

"It was dislocated, that's all." He huffed. "Must of popped back in place when it butted it." His face wasn't in pain anymore but filled with exhaustion.

I turned back to the wolf. How would it know that his arm was dislocated? And how would it know how to fix it? The wolf just stared back at me with its knowing eyes.

When I didn't make any more threatening gestures to it, it went over to Ian's feet and started to chew through the ropes. I turned and started working on his hands.

When I got them off, though it took a lot of time because they were bound so tight, I turned back to see what the wolf was doing but it wasn't there. I looked around and couldn't see it anywhere.

_Maybe it went back outside._

After a few grunted tries Ian was able to finally stay vertical, but he kept his weight off his left leg. I had him lean on me a little but not much since I couldn't hold his weight. We slipped through the gash of the truck and looked around.

We were in the middle of the forest somewhere, probably a long way away from Mel and the others. The wolf was nowhere to be seen and the truck looked like it had slammed into a giant oak tree which is what caused us to stop. I couldn't tell if the seekers were okay and if I had been a normal soul I would have checked on them to see if they were still alive but we needed to get out of here.

"Come on, let's go." Ian said, dragging me forward a little.

We hadn't made it three steps before we heard a banging noise from behind us.

One of the seekers, the blonde identical one, was shoving his shoulder on his door of the truck. It looked like it was stuck. The glass was shattered in his window and so he didn't have that much leverage to hit the door with.

His hair was a bloody mess and was dripping down his face. He must not have noticed us before but now he did.

"Hey! Can you help me?" He asked, his voice full of panic. "I can't get the door open and I need to get Claw out of here now." He turned his head, probably to look back at his partner. "He hit his head really hard and I can't wake him up." The panic in his voice increased.

Ian pulled me along with him. "Why should we help you?" He accused; the anger crystal clear in his voice. "You captured us with the intent of implanting souls in us." Technically, I already am a soul but since Ian thought he didn't need to point that out, neither did I. "You took over our home, our planet and now you ask for _us_ to help _you!_" Ian's accusation hurt a little, since I was once part of the society that took his home from him. I must have flinched because Ian tightened his grip on my shoulders in comfort.

"Please…" was all he said. He kept turning back to his partner.

I think the soul inside me just couldn't say no, couldn't let another being suffer like this. I walked away from Ian and to the seeker.

"_Wanda?!_ What are you doing?" Ian called after me shocked. I turned back to him.

"Ian, we're in the middle of the forest. What can he do to us? His partner is unconscious and he himself is injured. I can't let him suffer like this." Ian's face went through so many emotions it was hard to read them all. Shock, anger, confusion, fear, pain and finally recognition and resignation.

After a few heart beats, he wobbled over to where I was standing outside the seeker's door. His face was guarded and wary of the seeker, but none the less he was going to help. I turned back to the seeker.

"You push, we pull." His expression beamed with gratitude and then concentrated on what he was going to do. Ian grabbed the side of the door as I grabbed the other and the seeker placed his hand right below the window.

"On three," I said, "One, two, three!" There was a straining noise as they grunted and then the door swung outward knocking Ian and me back a little.

As soon as the door was open, Ian picked me up and backed away from the truck, keeping his eyes on the seeker. I didn't like being held especially with Ian's arm just newly relocated and his injured leg wasn't even healed but I knew he was already angry at me and so I didn't argue.

The seeker, turned away from us and started to haul out the body of his partner, at least I hoped it wasn't the body, out of the truck. Ian didn't make any movement to help and I didn't suggest it either.

After the seeker got his partner out of the truck he laid his partner's head in his lap. His partner's brown hair was full of blood and he had many cuts all along the left side of his face and down his neck. The blonde felt around for the brown hair's pulse and let out a sigh of relief when he did. Finally, the blonde looked at us.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. Ian snorted but the blonde ignored it. "To be honest with you, when I heard that there might have been a soul with the humans that had been spotted, I was curious. Were you there prisoner, or their friend?" He was looking at me now when he said this. "I have a wife back home and we have a human son. After a long discussion, we're going to try and not have a soul put inside him."

I couldn't help but stare at the seeker and I could feel Ian stiffen at the words. We had seen a similar scene on one of our raids but would a seeker really do that? They were always looking for wild humans to capture and so the thought of a seeker keeping a human for a child was astounding. The seeker cleared his throat.

"Again, I thank you for helping us and in return I'll let you go, Claw here may not like it but," he said to Ian, "you're not the ones we were looking for, the way you hold her to you is given proof. The ones we're looking for kill souls." Sadness entered his eyes. "I will report that you were long gone by the time I had awakened and gotten out."

Ian nodded and started to back away but it was hard because he was carrying me and walking on his bad leg. I looked at him.

"Put me down before we both fall." I told him. He did. I looked back at the seeker. "Thank you," I said with sincerity. "If you don't mind, you said Claw, like he was from the mist planet, is that right?" I asked with complete curiosity, because if this was the seeker I knew of then I know why this seeker wanted to keep his human son. He nodded.

"Yes, his name is Sharp Claws Digging Through Ice, and mine is Steel Fang Slays Beast." My eyes widened with recognition of the names.

"It's good to see you again Steel," my voice caught a little. "I'm glad you were able to make a full recovery. We should meet again on more friendly terms." He stared at me confused and I could sense that Ian was also confused. "Slipping you into that claw beast was not easy." I tried to smile when I said this to make the atmosphere go down a few notches.

Steel's expression filled with understanding. "Rides the Beast…" he whispered and then smiled. "Yes, yes we will."

I turned back to Ian shaking my head at the question in his eyes. Now was not the time or place, seekers would be coming to get Steel and Claw, we needed to get out of here.

I let Ian lean on me again as we walked away into the forest with no clue how we were going to get home.

* * *

**Please review!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**School over, check. All the vacations that i'll be going on for this summer, check. Unlimited access to latop CHECK! now that the biggest part of my summer is over i can finally get back to what i was working on. :)**

**

* * *

**

Wanda POV

It's been three days since we left the seekers where the truck crashed and I was starting to get worried. My mind was filled with images of Jamie, Mel and even Jared. I was worried about them, and I was really hoping they had gone back to the caves instead of waiting for us.

Sadly, we wouldn't be going back for the van. It was just too risky and if we were seen again we could be caught more easily than last time. My body was still sore and Ian's leg was looking really bad. He doesn't complain about it but I'm starting to get worried that he's trying to hide how much it pains him. He ripped the sleeves off his shirt and used them as a bandage.

I was starting to worry about infection but he kept reassuring me that everything was fine. The biggest thing that annoyed me though was that he refused to let me see it.

The biggest problem was that even if it was infected how would we get any medicine to him? We couldn't just take him to the hospital, he's human and they would notify the seekers as soon as we stepped in the door.

I could go to the back of the clinics and raid some of the medical supplies but Ian absolutely refused when I mentioned it to him. He said he didn't want me anywhere near the souls.

He probably wouldn't tell me outright but I think he was scared that if I left, I could get caught and wouldn't be coming back. There was so much pain on his face that I didn't ask again. But that still left us in the predicament we're in.

Among those pressing issues, we had to somehow survive out here in the middle of nowhere. We were traveling south; I believe, I can't tell much anymore, through the forest. We hope that we can make it back to Jeb and the others in the caves without coming across any other souls.

With all the trees and brush, we have plenty of cover when nighttime comes. Ian wraps himself around me like a big safety blanket and at night I can here him whisper that everything is going to be ok. I think he's worried he won't be able to protect me, but he's done more than that in the last three days. He's been able to find food for us while I haven't found anything.

It's because his dad, his brother and him always went camping so he knows where to look, but I don't know these things. Pet never went camping or really ever went outdoors at all. It made me feel bad that Ian had to do all the work; I was completely useless to him. That's why I had to find out about how bad his leg was so I could get him the medicine so he could heal, I just had to.

**Ian POV**

I knew Wanda was worried about me, it showed in every moment she made, but I couldn't show her how bad I really was. At first, my leg wasn't bothering me. I figured it would just heal and my system could fight off any infection there was but over the passing day my leg ached more and more, to the point where I had to hide that I was supporting most of my wait on my right leg.

I hated being weak but I wouldn't let Wanda go to a hospital filled with souls and risk that she might be caught and won't be coming back. The idea made me shudder.

Traveling through the forest was easy; all those camping trips with my dad really helped when it came to getting food or water. And the forest helped us hide at night, but it was only when Wanda was safely in my arms while she slept that I truly let myself relax. Wanda is everything to me and I'm not going to let anything happen to her even with my leg.

At about high noon when we came to the edge of a cliff, though it really wasn't a cliff. It was only about 40 feet down to the bottom, so it was climbable, but I was already really exhausted from all the walking this morning. It wasn't like me to get this tired so quickly, which made me think that maybe my leg was worse than it looked, but I wouldn't let Wanda on about that.

"Ian, do you think you could climb down this?" Wanda asked as she walked to the edge and stared down the edge of the cliff.

"Yeah, this won't be a problem. You worry too much," I assured her but her expression showed that she wasn't buying it.

"Ian, your leg has been bothering you all day. I know you're trying to hide it but I'm not that stupid." Great, so much for hiding it. She was always very observant.

"Wanda, seriously, I'm fine," I lied. I hated lying to her but I didn't want her to go to get medical supplies while we were still so close to the truck crash site. They could be waiting for her. She may trust that Steel guy but I don't, and I don't want to risk Wanda.

Seeing the stubborn look on my face, she sighed and waited for me to climb down first.

The sun was high in the sky and so I wasn't be able to look up at Wanda while I was climbing down but I would know if she fell and I could catch her. Better than having he go first in my mind.

I sat at the edge of the cliff and twisted around so that I was facing the cliff. Using my arms to support most of my weight I was able to find some foot holes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a really sturdy one for my right leg, which meant I had to put most of my weight on my left.

Pure agony shot up from my left leg as I gasped with pain and clung to the side of the cliff. My leg had been aching before but not as bad as this. It throbbed and I was starting to feel dizzy.

"Ian! Are you okay?" Wanda's worried face filled my vision, or at least what I could see with it, the edges were turning at little fuzzy. By now I had found a better foot hole for my right leg and was supporting most if not all of my weight on that, but even then my left leg was still screaming at me.

"I'm fine," I grunted. I continued to climb down the cliff face before she could protest. I did as best as I could to ignore the howling in my leg, though it wasn't easy, I had to stop a few times to keep it under control, making it look like I was looking for a better holding position.

Wanda followed me after I was about half way down but she kept looking at me like she was afraid I was going to fall or something, and now matter how many times I smiled at her she still kept watching me. Seeing her worried expression made me get worried.

"Wanda it's ok," I tried to assure her again, "I'm fi-," suddenly my left leg crumpled in my foot hold and I fell down the cliff side.

"IAN!" Wanda screamed.

A rock caught me in the arm and another smashed into my left leg, sending wave after wave of agony up my leg. My head hit something hard and then I knew nothing.

**Wanda POV**

"No, no, no. Ian!" I called to him. I knew he was hiding it, I knew his leg was bothering him but I didn't stop him from climbing down, and now he may be dead.

Trying to see through my tears, I made my way down the cliff.

Ian hit his head when he landed and I knew all to well the damage that could be caused by that one blow.

I'm so stupid, I should have made him too for another way down. Greif and worry washed through me, when I finally made it to the bottom.

He was lying in a heap and not moving. His arm was bleeding were he jammed into the cliff side and the bandage on his leg was soak filled with blood.

I tore off the bandage to find that the gash was wider than it was before and sputtering out blood. I stuff the bandage in the wound trying to apply some pressure on it, anything to make it stop.

I turned his face to the side to find he was bleeding from the back of the head too.

"No…" I gaped in horror. "Ian, you need to wake up. Ian, please wake up." I was suddenly sobbing because there was nothing I could do. I didn't have any healing supplies and I couldn't carry him to a hospital. And I wouldn't anyway.

No matter how much I wanted to keep Ian alive I wouldn't hand him over to the souls, I couldn't, I just couldn't.

I felt his leg again and he moaned in pain. Relief washed through me.

"Ian? Ian, please wake up." I begged him but he had slipped back into unconsciousness.

Feeling utterly useless, I tried to keep the pressure to his leg hoping the bleeding would stop.

From behind me, I heard a twig snap. I whirled around expecting a soul to be standing there, but it wasn't a soul. It was the white wolf again.


	10. Chapter 10

**hey guys! thought i'd upload a quick update. as most of you have guessed the unknown pov is really the wolf and this chapter is about the wolf. there is more than meets the eye with this wolf. :)**

**thanks for all my amazing reviews! trying to write as fast as i can. lol**

* * *

Wolf POV

From the instant I left them at the truck, I followed them. The smell of their blood could attract any predator within miles and they would need someone to watch over them during the nightfall. These woods were dangerous and I would not leave them on their own.

It seemed that the female did not know how to live out her and the male was providing her with all the basics of life, but the stench of worry was potent in the air. She worried about the male and for good reason. The wound on his leg had not healed and was starting to get infected; its foul smell intruded my nose on the second morning.

I watched over them as they walked; they did not stop but for brief moments of rest. The male's breathing was harder than the females and the shift of his weight was burdened on his right leg. Minor things not noticed by the human species but my predator senses picked up his weakness instantly, like a fly in a spider's web.

On the evening of the 2nd night, the male groaned softly in his sleep. Leaving my post and exposing myself out in the open, I walked silently up to the male. The female was sleeping in his arms, twitching in her dreams.

Even from a few feet away, the rancid smell of infection was coming off the male. He may be alright during the day while they were moving around but at night he was at nature's mercy.

I had two options: stay with them and hope his body takes care of itself, or leave them and seek the nearest city for healing items.

From what my nose was telling me, I had to leave. I would be able to reach them again when sun was at its highest the next day, and they wouldn't be traveling far with the male in his condition. I didn't have to worry about them running into any unexpected guests just yet.

Having made my decision, I turned and left, flying through the forest on my white paws. Hoping I would be back before they did anything they regret.

**Wolf POV**

I ran as fast as my paws would take me, the bundle bouncing off my chest with each step. I had gotten exactly what the male needed but they had traveled far in the time I was gone. Knowing the stubbornness of my own species, the male probably tried to go as far as he could and not worry the female. Males.

I snorted in disgust.

I picked up their trail about a mile from their resting spot the night before, and chased after them. They were heading straight for a cliff face and though the cliff face is not that far down, with the male's leg in its condition he would never be able to climb down safely.

I was almost to the cliff face when I heard the female call out. I vaulted across the ground, covering the distance in seconds. I came to the top of the cliff and couldn't see either of them, but the smell of blood was thick in the air. I peered over the edge to see the male crumpled at the foot of the cliff, blood coming from his leg, arm and head.

With no other thought I ran along the cliff face until it got lower and jumped down to the bottom, turned on my heels and raced back to the male and female.

As I got closer the scent of blood was overpowering, setting off every predatory instinct in my body. All I could think about was prey, weak, and food. My muscles tensed, my mouth watered, and the scent of the male's blood pulled me closer.

I silently crept closer; the female was hunched over the male. Her removal would be easy, she was small and weak. I hunched down, ready to spring when my bundle of items hit the ground. I had forgotten I still had the bundle in my mouth and the slight distraction helped me break away from my animal instincts.

And then I heard her crying.

"Ian, you need to wake up. Ian, please wake up." She begged him. Those soft words and the love that went with them brought back memories from my own past, snapping me out of my instincts completely.

The male moaned a bit and the female's head snapped up at him.

"Ian? Ian, please wake up." She begged again but he had already gone back into unconsciousness.

He needed what I had brought, and needed it now. Not wasting another second, I stepped forward into the sunlight.

* * *

**Please review!**


End file.
